168

EXAGGERATED RECORDS.

[CH. XVI. The gravest of the ecclesiastical historians, Eusebius him. self, indirectly confesses, that he has related whatever might redound to the glory, and that he has suppressed all that could tend to the disgrace of religion * Such an acknowledgment will naturally excite a suspicion, that a writer who has so openly violated one of the fundamental laws of history, has not paid a very strict regard to the observance of the other; and the suspicion will derive additional credit from the character of Eusebius, which was less tinctured with credulity, and more practised in the arts of courts, than that of almost any of his contemporaries. On some particular occasions, when the magistrates were exasperated by some personal motives of interest or resentment, when the zeal of the martyrs urged them to forget the rules of prudence, and perhaps of decency, to overturn the altars, to pour out imprecations against the emperors, or to strike the judge as he sat on his tribunal, it may be presumed that every mode of torture which cruelty could invent, or constancy could endure, was exhausted on those devoted vicfor reproach to them, that they held secret meetings, because they feared punishment; "for when you are arrested," said he, "you are dragged to execution, and suffer all kinds of torture, before you are put to death." (Origen. cont. Cels. lib. 1, 2, 6, 8, passim). Libanius also, the panegyrist of Julian, speaks thus of them: "Those who followed a corrupt religion, were constantly apprehensive of danger; they feared that Julian would iuvent for them torments even more exquisite than those which they had before endured, such as being maimed, burned alive, &c.: for preceding emperors had practised such cruelties on them. Libanii Orat. parent. in Julian. ap. Fab. Bibl. Græc. v. 9, No. 58, p. 283.-GUIZOT.] [Gibbon's defence of the course taken by him in this chapter (Vind. p. 122-145, 1st Edit.) would be weakened by abridgment. He considered it to be his duty as "an impartial judge," to be counsel for the accused who had no witnesses, and to "examine with distrust and suspicion, the interested evidence of the accuser." Niebuhr also (Lect. on Rom. Hist. iii, p. 297) states, that the persecution by Diocletian "was not so frightful as we are wont to believe." The sudden hostility to the Christians, then manifested, was the work of Galerius, jealous of the new hierarchy, who were establishing a dominion more undisputed and feared, than that of the emperor himself. By inconsiderately yielding to the intemperate advice of his junior, Diocletian brought himself into a dilemma, which was the real cause of his so soon resigning the purple and retiring into private life.-ED.] * Such is the fair deduction from two remarkable passages in Eusebius, lib. 8, c. 2. and de Martyr. Palestin a. 12. The prudence of the historian has exposed his own character to censure and suspicion. It is well known that he himself had be

OB XVI.]

TREATMENT OF THE CHRISTIANS.

169

tims. Two circumstances, however, have been unwarily mentioned, which insinuate that the general treatment of the Christians, who had been apprehended by the officers of justice, was less intolerable than it is usually imagined to have been. 1. The confessors, who were condemned to work in the mines, were permitted, by the humanity or the negligence of their keepers, to build chapels, and freely to profess their religion, in the midst of those dreary habitations. The bishops were obliged to check and to censure

thrown into prison: and it was suggested that he had purchased his deliverance by some dishonourable compliance. The reproach was urged in his lifetime, and even in his presence, at the council of Tyre. See Tillemont, Mémoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. viii. p. 67. * The ancient, and perhaps authentic, account of the sufferings of Tarachus and his companions, (Acta Sincera, Ruinart, p. 419-448,) is filled with strong expressions of resentment and contempt, which could not fail of irritating the magistrate. The behaviour of Edesius to Hierocles, prefect of Egypt, was still more extraordinary, AoyoiÇ TE Kài iрyois TOV ČIKAOTηY... πepißáλwv. Euseb. de Martyr. Palestin. c. 5. There is nothing in the acts of Tarachus and his companions, which can be considered as "filled with expressions of resentment and contempt." It is the fault of the persecutors, if they put such a construction on the firmness of the persecuted. "What is your name?" said the presiding officer, Maximus, to Tarachus. "I am a Christian." "Break his jaw-bone," was the order instantly given. (Ruinart. p. 469.) His companion, when led forward, replied to the same question, "I am a Christian and my name is Probus." He was told to offer sacrifice, whereby he might gain the favour of his prince and the friendship of Maximus. "At such a price," he answered, "I desire neither the favour of a prince nor your friendship." After suffering the most cruel torments, he was loaded with chains, and the judge forbade any care to be bestowed on his wounds; "sanguine tuo impleta est terra." (Ruinart. p. 462.) The third was Andronicus, who with equal fortitude, resisted the command to offer sacrifice. To deceive him, the judge said, that his brothers had complied. "Unhappy man!" he exclaimed; "why would you beguile me by such falsehoods?" At last they were exposed to the wild beasts. Comparing the conduct of the judge with that of the martyrs, are the answers of the latter unbecoming or violent? The very people, who were present, manifested less gentleness and were less respectful. The injustice of Maximus was so revolting to them, that when the unfortunate victims appeared in the amphitheatre, the spectators were filled with terror, and murtoured, saying: "Unjust is the judge who has done this!" Many left the scene; and as they retired, spoke of Maximus with con. tempt. (Ruinart. p. 488).-GUIZOT.] + Euseb. de Martyr. Palestin. 13. [No sooner were the higher authorities informed of this, than the president of the province, a severe and cruel rian, as Eusebius says the same chapter, banished th confessor some to the isle of

170

LEGENDS OF PERSECUTION.

[CH. IVL the forward zeal of the Christians, who voluntarily threw themselves into the hands of the magistrates. Some of these were persons oppressed by poverty and debts, who blindly sought to terminate a miserable existence by a glorious death. Others were allured by the hope, that a short confinement would expiate the sins of a whole life; and others again were actuated by the less honourable motives of deriving a plentiful subsistence, and perhaps a considerable profit, from the alms which the charity of the faithful bestowed on the prisoners.* After the church had triumphed over all her enemies, the interest as well as vanity of the captives prompted them to magnify the merit of their respective sufferings. A convenient distance of time or place gave an ample scope to the progress of fiction; and the frequent instances which might be alleged of holy martyrs, whose wounds had been instantly healed, whose strength had been renewed, and whose lost members had miraculously been restored, were extremely convenient for the purpose of removing every difficulty, and of silencing every objection. The most extravagant legends, as they conduced to the honour of the church, were applauded by the credulous multitude, countenanced by the power of the clergy, and attested by the suspicious evidence of eccle siastical history.

The vague descriptions of exile and imprisonment, of pain and torture, are so easily exaggerated or softened by the pencil of an artful orator, that we are naturally induced to inquire into a fact of a more distinct and stubborn kind; the number of persons who suffered death in consequence of the edicts published by Diocletian, his associates, and his successors. The recent legendaries record whole armies and cities, which were at once swept away by the undistinguishing rage of persecution. The more ancient writers content themselves with pouring out a liberal effusion of loose and tragical invectives, without condescending o ascertain the precise number of those persons who were

Cyprus, others to various parts of Palestine, and ordered that they should be put to the most laborious toils. Four among them, who could not be prevailed on to abjure their faith, were burned alive.-Guizor)

* Augustin. Collat. Carthagin. Dei, 3. c. 13, ap. Tillemont, Mémoire Ecclesiastiques, tom. v. part 1. p. 46. The controversy with the Dona tists has reflected some, though perhaps a partial, light on the history

CH. XVI.]

NUMBER OF MARTYRS.

171

permitted to seal with their blood their belief of the gospel From the history of Eusebius, it may however be collected, that only nine bishops were punished with death; and we are assured, by his particular enumeration of the martyrs of Palestine, that no more than ninety-two Christians were entitled to that honourable appellation.* As we are unacquainted with the degree of episcopal zeal and courage which prevailed at that time, it is not in our power to draw any useful inferences from the former of these facts; but the latter may serve to justify a very important and probable conclusion. According to the distribution of Roman provinces, Palestine may be considered as the sixteenth part of the eastern empire;t and since there were some governors, who from a real or affected clemency had preserved their hands unstained with the blood of the faithful,↓

of the African church. * Eusebius de Martyr. Palestin. c. 13. He closes his narration, by assuring us, that these were the martyrdoms inflicted in Palestine, during the whole course of the persecution. The fifth chapter of his eighth book, which relates to the province of Thebais in Egypt, may seem to contradict our moderate computation; but it will only lead us to admire the artful management of the historian. Choosing for the scene of the most exquisite cruelty the most remote and sequestered country of the Roman empire, he relates, that in Thebais from ten to one hundred persons had frequently suffered martyrdom in the same day. But when he proceeds to mention his own journey into Egypt, his language insensibly becomes more cautious and moderate. Instead of a large, but definite number, he speaks of many Christians (#λtïovç); and most artfully selects two ambiguous words (ιστορησαμεν and ὑπομείνοντας), which may signify either what he had seen or what he had heard; either the expectation, or the execution, of the punishment. Having thus provided a secure evasion, he commits the equivocal passage to his readers and translators; justly conceiving that their piety would induce them to prefer the most favourable sense. There was perhaps some malice in the remark of Theodorus Metochita, that all who, like Eusebius, had been conversant with the Egyptians, delighted in an obscure and intricate style. (See Valesius ad loc.) + When Palestine was divided into three, the prefecture of the east contained forty-eight provinces. As the ancient distinctions of nations were long since abolished, the Romans distributed the provinces according to a general proportion of their extent and opulence. Ut gloriari possint nullum se innocentem

Those who will take the trouble of examining the passage, may judge whether væоμtivovтaç can signify the expectation of punish ment; if so taken, the sentence would be unmeaning and absurd.GUIZOT. [Does not the word properly denote awaiting the execution of sentences passed on them?—ED.]

172

XUMBER OF MARTYRS.

[CH. XVI it is reasonable to believe that the country which had given birth to Christianity, produced at least the sixteenth part of the martyrs who suffered death within the dominions of Galerius and Maximin; the whole might consequently amount to about fifteen hundred, a number, which, if it is equally divided between the ten years of the persecution, will allow an annual consumption of one hundred and fifty martyrs. Allotting the same proportion to the provinces of Italy, Africa, and perhaps Spain, where, at the end of two or three years, the rigour of the penal laws was either suspended or abolished, the multitude of Christians in the Roinan empire, on whom a capital punishment was inflicted by a judicial sentence, will be reduced to somewhat less than two thousand persons. Since it cannot be doubted that the Christians were more numerous, and their enemies more exasperated, in the time of Diocletian, than they had ever been in any former persecution, this probable and moderate computation may teach us to estimate the number of primitive saints and martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the important purpose of introducing Christianity into the world.

peremisse, nam et ipse audivi aliquos gloriantes, quia administratio sua, in hâc parte, fuerit incruenta. Lactant. Institut. Divin. 5. 11. • The calculation which Gibbon has made is founded on the number of martyrs, actually mentioned by name, in the history of Eusebius; but many more are there referred to. His ninth and tenth chapters are headed: "Of Antoninus, Zebinus, Germanus, and other martyrs;" "Of Peter the Mouk, Asclepius the Marcionite, and other martyrs." Speaking of those who suffered under Diocletian, he says: "I will relate the particulars of the death of only one, from which my readers may judge what the rest endured." (Hist. Ecc. lib. 8, c. 6.) Dodwell made a similar calculation before Gibbon, and objections, to which Ruinant gave this peremptory answer, in his Act. Mart. Pref. p. 24, &c. "Eusebius has admitted an infinite number of martyrs, although he has actually named but few. He is his own best interpreter, when he says (1. 3, c. 25), that many martyrs suffered under Trajan (1. 5, init.); that they were innumerable under Antoninus and Verus (1.6, c. 1); that in the time of Severus the churches were everywhere made illustrious by champions of the faith. In like manner he speaks of the persecutions of Decius and Valerian. The judicious reader may decide how far Dodwell is supported by such evidence." In the very persecutions which Gibbon has represented as lighter than that of Diocletian, the number of martyrs appears to have been greater than he even allows for the last, and that number is certified by incontestable monuments. I will only adduce one of these. Among